London-based photographer Joseph Ford seems to have a fondness for slightly surreal, offbeat sort of image-making. In the same vein as the great Salvador Dali maybe—he has set a crocodile on a pair of Lacoste sneakers, merged a railway line with a zipper, and had live butterflies flutter out of mouths. They’re the sort of images that are torn from the strangest of dreams, but somehow make perfect sense. The sort of images the avant-garde surrealists of the 20th century would argue, are the very centrepoint of pure creativity.
Joseph’s latest series is Knitted Camouflage. In the images, people wear far-out knitted jumpers that blend into mundane urban scenes—the upholstery of a bus set, the blue tiled steps of a subway tunnel, or the paw of a spray-painted mural of a cat, for example. While Joseph is used to a little post-production or CGI magic to enhance his images, Knitted Camouflage has been created without editing or digital manipulation.
The perfectly matched urban camouflage knits featured in the series are the work of Brighton-based Nina Dodd (AKA the Duke of Woolington). Each jumper has been carefully coordinated and hand-knitted to exactly marry the pattern of the urban environment. As well as a range of models, Knitted Camouflage features famous Parisian twins Monette and Mady Malroux, and Parisian street artist Monsieur Chat, who painted a yellow cat on the wall of a forgotten factory to feature as part of the project.